_ 188 _ handing over to me all the Christians and all the male and female slaves who had fled from Goa, as well as all the horses and artillery, as I have already informed Your Highness. This business concluded, I immediately ordered my nephew, Dom Garcia, to return to Cochin to repair the ships which the Turkish cannon had smashed in Benasterim; and they guarded the port of Calicut, but his ships continued to attack it. Ten naus were being made ready with cargoes of spices. I was certainly aware of this. At that time, the Samorin and the Nambiadarin, the prince of Calicut, were talking about peace and about supporting Your Highness and paying tributes. Thus, during that period, not a single nau set out and I remained in Goa strengthening the Benasterim channel, which is the key to the island of Goa. On the banks of the river and channel I built the castle of São Pedro, which only needs forty or fifty men to defend it. I had another tower built in Panjim, surrounded by a stockade and with its ramparts in the sea. I am now having another set up at the bar and entrance of the port, where there is a Moorish rampart. When my nephew had finished repairing the naus, I wrote telling him to abandon the coast of Calicut. I secretly
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